Search - Firecracker on DVD

Disturbing...Disturbing...Disturbing...

Kimberly Ross | Boston, MA | 02/24/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My boyfriend is a HUGE Mike Patton fan so we were thrilled to have seen it opening night of the tour in Boston! I had no idea what the movie was about or what I was getting myself into.



The colors were just brilliant. Esthetically, the movie was the most beautiful I've ever seen. When people ask if I liked it or not, I just don't know what to say. Somehow the disturbing content just pops into my head first...but then I think of how wonderful it was visually. Kudo's to Mike and Karen's acting. I loved the symetry of characters (color = black and white counterparts). The scene at the end when Karen was running in the field; it was just like nothing I've ever seen on screen. All in all....I loved it.



"

Hitchcockian?

Phillip M. Singleton | Salt Lake City, UT | 07/07/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"On the front of the DVD cover you will notice "Hitchcockian - Roger Ebert"



This is clever marketing. Not a lie but misleading. Roger Ebert says



"There is the Hitchcockian scene where the mother asks at the cleaners for an "astringent" to remove the "shoe polish" on her carpet."



OK, so a scene is Hitchockian, not the movie. I have noticed that critics are much easier on indie films and foreign films, I believe this is the case here.



Balderson is a hard worker, a smart businessman, very creative, and I like his directing. As a writer though? That's where I think this movie falls flat. I was into the movie for the first half hour or so, until Mike Patton died. Then, I fell asleep twice after that and was painfully bored.



Visually the movie has some great shots. The burning fire for the opening credits, the bright colors, great landscape shots, shots of the carnival, etc. But, without good dialogue and pacing it just doesn't make a good movie. Some of the acting is too B Movie-ish and I like B-Movies. If it wasn't for the presence of Karen Black this movie would be unwatchable.



I really wanted to like this movie and have been following it for years. I wouldn't have watched it if it didn't have Mike Patton in it. Mike Patton played a bigger role than I thought and it was interesting to see him act. This is a must see for Patton fans.



Balderson is quite young still and I think with a solid and exciting script he could really do something with it. I just hope he doesn't continue to direct only movies he writes. The "making of" documentary of this movie is quite egotistical and winded. That may be the main problem here. This movie to me played like a long student film project with a larger budget. Some moments of greatness but too self-indulgent.



I look forward to see what else Balderson brings to the silver screen and I hope this movie opens the door giving access to a variety of great writers' screenplays."

Just Plain Bad

Mud Pyramid | Omaha, Nebraska USA | 04/15/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Bill Cosby once had a line about the birth of his first son. He said that he was excited and anxious in the hospital, until he saw his son for the first time. He said he managed to maintain the smile of an expectant father, but he said he was horrified at what he saw emerge from his wife's womb. He said he wanted to turn to the intern who handed his son to him and say: "Maybe we should put him back in and let him cook a little longer."

As a big Mike Patton fan, I anxiously awaited the release of this movie. I maintained my smile to about the halfway point. At that point, I was unable to maintain the smile. I decided that watching a movie of me watching the movie would've been more entertaining. It reminded me of a movie done by a film student. A bad one. I think the class would've called it a worthy effort, but they would've given it an 'F'. They would've said that the acting was stilted, it was poorly cut, and it was confusing in a manner that you were sure that the director had not intended. Patton should probably stick to what he does better than anyone out there right now. Karen Black was good, but her performance wasn't exceptional. The rest were terrible. I normally don't enjoy seeing others slam any project that a person has cut blood over, but if I can save one Patton fan the disappointment of seeing him act I'll consider this a worthwhile post."

Dark Pulp Reality

C. Kirby | Mt Pleasant, SC | 05/14/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A very intense film that seems to have some Lynch ideas, but more akin to Hitchcock to real film fan. Even some of the acting direction harkens back to the fifties, I'm reminded of Night of the Hunter during the scene with Frank and the shopgirl, the almost bad acting over the top performance. I guess this got panned as a Lynch wannabe, but I guess I found it a lot more disturbing than Lynch's twisted sense of humor and irony. And I love Lynch.."